Two lower-cost airlines that pitch themselves as less spartan than the ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier are pulling back some of their upgraded seating options and adding a few more seats to their economy sections.
JetBlue and Breeze have both modified seating plans for new planes now arriving, but have not indicated any plans to modify existing fleets.
For JetBlue, the change involves its A321neo planes, which handle its transatlantic routes from New York and Boston to London; the planes were ordered for the route, and have 24 premium seats, 24 extra-room seats and 90 standard economy. A newer version, already in use on cross-U.S. flights, will take over some of the London routes, with 16 premium seats, 42 extra-room and 102 standard. JetBlue is expected to announce a second European destination soon.
Breeze, which first flew last year, has been replacing its start-up leased Embraer regional jets with new Airbus A220s. The initial configuration for the A220 went heavy on lie-flat ‘Nicest’ seats, with 36 out of a total of 126 seats. After the first seven of Breeze’s planned 80 A220s, that will drop to 12 ‘Nicest,’ a large number of extra-legroom ‘Nicer’ seats and a total of 137 seats.
For now, the airline appears to be using the more-premium layout on its longest routes, but founder David Neeleman has pointed out that the seating system on the plane will allow the airline to simply adjust seating on existing planes as it learns more about what sells best.
